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Saturday, 24 December 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016 - Christmas Day - You can be more

The Introduction and the Entrance Antiphon of
today’s liturgy makes clear that for those who celebrate Christmas the word of
God is no longer merely the message spoken by the prophets, but the messenger
of God in person. The Word of God is a child born for us on whose shoulder
dominion will be laid. This is seen clearly in the readings that have been
chosen for today.

In the first reading from the Second Book of Isaiah
which is a prophetic oracle of salvation, the prophet announces through a
messenger the return of the exiles to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem which
had experienced war, destruction and sorrow will now experience peace, unity
and happiness. This is the good news that is proclaimed.

The letter to the Hebrews takes up the theme of the
good news spoken through God’s word in a variety of ways. In the old days, this
was spoken through the prophets, but in the now, the new days God will not
content himself with merely speaking through intermediaries but speaks through
a part of himself when he speaks through his son. His speaking is definitive
not because God will not speak again, but because in Jesus, God has said all
that he would want to say. God will not need to speak like this anymore.

This is also the theme of the prologue of the Gospel
of John. However, John puts it even more elaborately than Hebrews does. Jesus
is here described as the one who was with God from all eternity, who was, is
and will be divine. This
Word “became flesh and dwelt among us.” But again this totally other
"Word" has a history and a purpose. He comes into the world as
life and light. He asks to be accepted in faith. His own did not
accept him; throughout history he offers himself to all of good will.
Those who do accept him he empowers to become children of God, to have a new
birth, to be born of God in the new birth of the Spirit.

The impossible has become possible, the totally incomprehensible
has become somewhat comprehensible and our humanity is never again to be seen
as a limitation but as an advantage. We have been blessed with a new and
radiant vision. God could not be seen, but now in Jesus he is visible.Our God is not a God out there or up
there, but a God who is with us and for us and showed us this in the unique and
astounding way of becoming like us. We share through the Incarnation in the
very life of God. Our cry after the Incarnation is not a plaintive “I’m only
human”, but an exuberant, “I’m human”. This is what Christmas means and this is
what the birth of the Christ child is saying. Before the Incarnation of Jesus,
we human beings thought we could be only this brave, but the Incarnation has
shown that we can be braver. Before the Incarnation we thought we could only love
so much, but the Incarnation has shown that we can love even more and to the
very end. Before Jesus’ incarnation we human beings thought we could be only so
much, but the Incarnation of God shows us that we can be more. We have become
through the incarnation, children, women and men of the Magis, the greater, the
more. The Incarnation has made each of us aware of the immense potential that
exists in us because we have been graced through the humanity of the divinity.
Christ became human to show us that even in our humanity we can become divine.
The Incarnation does not simply invite us to be good men and women, rather through
the Incarnation; Jesus makes us into people who can use all their strengths and
defects to the service and the glory of God. This is the proof to us that it is
not by our own will power that we are able to become children of God. It is by
God's grace, by God's unmerited and unconditional love of us.

Thus, Christmas is not merely the celebration of a
historical birth or a birth that took place over two thousand years ago. It is
about becoming conscious of who we really are as human beings. It is the
celebration of life in all its fullness. It is the celebration of the
transformation of limit to limitlessness, of selfishness to selflessness, of
bondage and fear to freedom and unconditional love.

Christmas belongs not only to a few who call
themselves Christians but to the entire earth. The lowly animals, birds,
plants, trees indeed the whole of nature participates in this nativity of the
divine light at Christmas. Our compassion for our human brothers and sisters is
increased when we realize that the animals, birds, plants, trees and the rest
of nature is also made up of wondrous beings in even more humble, limited and
unrecognizable form than ourselves.

As the Logos (Word) descends into the earth and
becomes sarx (flesh) to bring Light to the world, we realize that it is in and
through this Light that we have life.

About Me

There are four maxims I try to live by. The first is to ALWAYS have CHOICES about everything. The more choices I have, the less the chances of my being disappointed.
The Second is that I try to see my REWARD in the doing of the action itself. I will expect nothing from anyone in return and even expect the very ones I have helped to be ungrateful. It does not matter. I do not mind.
The third is that every stage in my life I try to KNOW where my authority ends. This saves a lot of bother. I am not the General Manager of the Universe. I do what I have to do and leave the rest to God.
The fourth is a readiness to face the consequences of my action. When I make a gaffe I am willing to rectify it and apologize. However, if it cannot be rectified I am ready to face the penalty.